Meant to Live
by eolhcsullivan452
Summary: Noel has a few days left with Yeul, and they make the most of it. Yeul dies and is reincarnated again, but why does Raven have knowledge of her? Why is Alexander beginning to remind her of Noel? Raven isn't sure of the answer, but maybe Yeul is. N/Y & A/R


**Author's Note: Umm… Vampire Kisses fans may not be able to understand this if they don't know Final Fantasy XIII-2. However, I think XIII-2 fans should be able to mostly understand the Vampire Kisses side of this (even if said fans haven't read VK). Vampire Kisses is mainly a human/vampire romance between a gothic girl named Raven and a vampire named Alexander. And, of course, there are many adventures and things they need to deal with/come to terms with during their courting.**

**Anyway, let me try and explain a little bit of XIII-2 to VK fans so they can mostly get this fic.**

**Basically, Noel, Caius, and Yeul live in a dying world called Pulse. They end up being the last humans left alive. Caius ends up leaving, though, to go to Valhalla. It's a place beyond time, life, and death. Basically, he wants to destroy time, and throw the world into chaos, in order to save Yeul from her curse (whom he loves, and she usually loves him back).**

**You see, Yeul is a Seeress/Farseer. What that means is that she has the ability to see the timeline and visions of the future. However, each time she has a vision, she loses a piece of her life. Eventually, her gift always kills her and she is reincarnated. At that point, the cycle pretty much starts again, but it should be noted that the Yeuls, though they have the same soul, are never exactly the same. They're different each time with different dreams, hopes, and interests. It's for this reason that you can't say, "Even though she dies, it's okay because she comes back and lives forever this way!" No. Each girl is different and, sadly, always dies young, at fifteen, before she really gets a chance to live her life. Yeul doesn't mind this, though. Or resent anyone or anything for it. She accepts her fate and is glad to be able to help people onto the right path, and live out the time she has. As long as the future she sees is happy, Yeul couldn't ask for anything more. She doesn't want Caius to throw the world into entropy just for her sake. She's very selfless, sweet, and good. It's for this reason that she never acts to save herself. And always having visions of when she'll die, she very well could. She doesn't, though, because she knows it'll throw things off balance and mess things up for everyone else should she live when she's meant to die.**

**Now, it should be noted that Caius and Yeul are usually in love, but Noel's Yeul (the last Yeul) loves him more. Also, Noel doesn't know about Yeul's fate in most of this story. He just knows of her power and that he's in training to protect her like his mentor, Yeul's Guardian, Caius does. He doesn't know her power we'll eventually kill her and that she'll be reincarnated. **

**There's more to the story than that, but if you know that, you should be able to understand most of this. So sorry for any confusion and this beast of an Author's Note! On with the story! **

**Meant to Live**

**(Noel & Yeul/Alexander & Raven)**

Noel gazed up at the darkening sun above him. Wiping a sweaty arm over his brow, only serving in smearing the perspiration he'd been trying to get off his forehead even more, the Guardian in training prepared for the egregious task of dragging the behemoth he'd bagged back to Yeul for her birthday feast.

Gritting his teeth somewhat as he began to lug the huge thing towards his Seeress, Noel couldn't resist the urge to glare up at the sun casting red light over his form. How was it that it seemed to lighten up him and only him? Could it have had something to do with the Eclipse era that had made their sun this way? Or was it something more? Perhaps painted red as a way to remember all those who had fallen. All those who would continue to fall. As Noel was bathed in the red spotlight, he had the strange feeling that he would be seeing his own blood, sweat, and tears soon enough. He was already there in regards to the sweaty part. But he knew by some misfortune, when he began bleeding out like his forefathers, his death would come long after he'd wished for it.

Shaking off his ridiculous ideas, Noel prayed to the Goddess Etro that all his fears would be in vain. At least until Yeul was far enough away that she'd never see him about to die like that. There was a reason, after all, that Yeul sang songs of hope instead of songs of despair. Sure the songs weren't the brightest because of the end of time they lived in, but Yeul never failed to have a note of hope in her voice. In her hope, she helped herself the way the Goddess meant for her to. And through that cycle (even though Noel didn't know yet why "cycle" was such an adept term to describe Yeul), Noel knew his Yeul was blessed. Always had been and always would be. She'd make the impossible possible. Even though... Even though Caius was no longer with them.

Eventually Noel found Yeul close to the area that housed the Oracle Drive. He smiled slightly, knowing that Yeul had listened to him when she'd last seen him last and stayed where she was. These lands were treacherous even to the most skilled warrior. Yeul and himself were the last humans left in the world. Noel sometimes wondered how Yeul could have made it so long with how delicate and defenseless she was, but he wouldn't have traded it for the world. Even if... Even if it had somewhat taught him to coddle her. It was for that reason he didn't want to tell her even now that Caius had left them. There was a lot about the last time Noel had seen Caius that he didn't want Yeul to know of.

Sighing, the hunter promised himself he would think about it all later (how could he not when Caius had been his mentor and best friend?), but now he needed to focus on Yeul. It was her birthday, even if Caius' decision would make it even more depressing than Noel had previously feared. In fact, the long line that had been created from where Noel dragged the monster with him created a map to where Noel had just lost Caius. This was something Yeul would never know.

The said girl didn't notice Noel's presence at first, as she softly sang a tune to herself. Yeul had an almost gravelly tone to her voice; a dark edge as it was. And yet, she sang the most beautiful songs Noel had ever heard. He knew very well that it wasn't just because she was the only person he'd ever really heard sing well, either. There was something about her singing that was darker, but it was almost through that that a light could be heard underlying her voice. Maybe it was like the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel that made him like her singing. Or maybe it was because Noel knew despite the docile persona Yeul had to her, she was very strong willed. Whatever the reason, Noel found himself stopping to listen to the love of his life more than once.

"Ahem."

Though Noel had cleared his throat to get the Farseer's attention, it was when a spider meant to crawl over the back of her shoulder that Yeul finally turned around. Instead of squishing it like the girls of an earlier age would have done, Yeul scooped it into her hand, but only so she could put it gently on the ground and watch it crawl away with a smile on her sweet face. As it was, her turning around to see and help the spider put her directly in Noel's line of vision and vice versa. Clapping her hands together and smiling even more gleefully than she had with the spider, Yeul exclaimed, "Noel, come sit down! I've been meaning to talk with you like this for ages. Ever since I saw that vision, I..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Yeul. Settle down. We'll have plenty of time to talk, 'kay? Right now, you need to show me what kind of meat you want for your special day." Noel grabbed Yeul gently by the shoulders at his words.

Smiling at him slightly, Yeul removed Noel's hands from her so she could better turn around to look at what would soon be their meal. Yeul's long, dark turquoise hair (that almost looked like a very dark blue or black with so little sun) made a whooshing noise, and spilled over her shoulder as she turned in the direction of the behemoth. As she took the dead creature's presence in, her face seemed to be torn between sadness and gratitude. Finally, she settled on the latter. "You weren't kidding when you said you caught a huge one. This is great, Noel! And maybe Caius won't eat all of the beast this time."

Noel looked at Yeul with nothing short of pride when a true laugh saturated the end of her sentence. Yeul's voice, while not monotone, tended to sound like she'd just woken up. Though Noel knew it was just how she sounded, there were days when he worried he might be boring her with what he was saying. But she never let his fears torment him for long, because there were always moments like this when she'd show genuine, clearly evident emotion. And when said emotions were happiness, whatever bad thing that may have previously happened for Noel didn't matter. And it was the same now. He wasn't even too upset that Caius had left at the moment. Not when Yeul's green eyes were looking at him like plants stretching out to the sun (that he'd only ever heard about).

"I think, I want this red piece. And then if it stains my lips, it won't look too unnatural." As she spoke, Yeul traversed over to the behemoth and leaned against the part of his skin that looked like red hide. Just that piece of the behemoth's body seemed a lot bigger than the petit fifteen year old. However, with the monster being as dead as a doornail, it almost looked as though Yeul was posing over her victory. If the hunters Noel had learned from were still alive, they probably would have gotten a riot out of it. Noel laughed at the thought, but Yeul thought he was laughing at something else.

Deciding she was tired of leaning against the animal, Yeul dropped to the ground and sitting cross-legged, she regarded Noel with a hand under her chin. She opened her mouth, but only to close it while she thought over what she wanted to say. "I know it's silly to worry about my lip color with everything else, but there are some elements of the past we want to hold onto, Noel. Maybe you need to remember that by my showing you how strange I'd look with black 'lipstick.'"

The brunette laughed at the mental image somewhat (that he knew he'd be seeing soon because Yeul would make sure to eat from the black part of the behemoth now), and offered a hand to his charge. She stared at it for a moment, but quickly complied in giving him her hand.

For a moment, Noel was taken aback by the feeling he got when he held onto Yeul like this. Especially when he was feeling more of her hand than usual because since her bangles had slid further up her arm, he was feeling her hand without anything to get in the way of it. Shaking his head to rid it of the thought, Noel remarked rather cheekily, "Come on. Let's get back to the village. At least there we can sit at out age-old campfire spot. At least those logs there should be more comfortable for you. Because, knowing you, you just hurt your butt by choosing to fall to the ground so recklessly, right?"

Yeul, for the moment, ignored the comment about her hurting herself and the jab at her weakness (though Noel knew she'd get back at him for it later). Instead, she looked at Noel rather guiltily and he knew he was right about what he was about to do. "What about my birthday party meal? You're not going to take me back to the campfire for comfier seats. You're going to take me back to my bed for a comfy sleep."

Though she'd figured Noel's ploy out, Yeul wasn't really protesting. Instead, she was leaning against Noel and walking back to the village like he'd suggested. As she got heavier and heavier against him, the future time traveler knew why. "You won't sleep all day, Yeul. We'll continue then. But you're about to crash, I know it. You always become exhausted when you interact with the Oracle Drive."

"Mm. I guess I could sleep for a bit," Yeul muttered as she completely fell down now, and Noel had to sweep her up into his arms. Unlike the behemoth he'd had to drag with him, Noel didn't mind this in the slightest. Quite the contrary, actually. She was light as a feather, and somehow the feel of her nuzzled into his arms felt like the last piece of a puzzle coming into place. As Yeul clutched Noel's shirt to her (just to stay a wake a little bit longer), Noel breathed in the smell of her hair and smiled radiantly. When he was in Yeul's presence, everything just seemed so right. "Soon though, I promise I'll find a way to sleep in a way even less than you. I want to be the life of the party that you always said I was. And that Caius always agreed with."

With that, the girl Noel was meant to protect fell fast asleep. He kissed her forehead slightly, and noted she seemed to taste like corn syrup. Though the taste of it on her wasn't revolting. It was heavenly. When Noel finally made it back to the village, he put Yeul in her bed and began cooking their dinner.

...

Noel could read it on her face when Yeul emerged from her room that she was confused at first. Whether it was because she didn't know what time or day it was, or because she was processing that Caius was gone (Noel had told her this in her sleep hoping she'd hear him, and it'd be less hurtful or shocking that way), Noel didn't know. However, when her green eyes locked onto his blue, her lost expression seemed to melt away. Yeul's face seemed to pick up a resigned look, but even then it turned into a small smile. She took a seat beside Noel as he poked the fire in front of him.

As he did so, he cooked another piece of the meat perfectly and handed it to Yeul. The space between them was already filled with plenty of meat, but Noel knew as long as he could keep the fire going, there would be more. Even when they ran out of this food, he would find more some way, somehow... for Yeul. Always for Yeul. But even though he was trying to keep a positive outlook, he had to realize they were running out of something perhaps even more important. Water.

"I miss corn syrup," Yeul joked as she grabbed a tree branch and burned it whilst Noel continued to bat the flames with his fire poker. Maybe Yeul was imagining what it had been like to make s'mores in the old days? Or maybe she was just admiring the flames dancing on the wood. Wherever her thoughts were, she seemed distant and far away.

Noel smiled crookedly (with a tinge of sadness) at that. Yeul did drift off mentally sometimes. And though Noel often thought it cute, and she usually was good at daydreaming and paying attention simultaneously, well... He had thought she might pay attention to him more now that they were the only two people left in the world. Perhaps he was just being too judgmental of Yeul. After all, everyone needed privacy at times, right? Even if they did have to (and wanted to) stick together.

Suddenly, her way of escaping through her imagination made a lot of sense. She was probably writing new song lyrics. Maybe about the spider? Or the party she'd always wanted to go to to get a response to her songs (according to Yeul, Noel and Caius were biased in liking her songs).

Taking Yeul's sudden leaning against him as a sign, Noel decided now might be a good time to pull Yeul from her thoughts and try to connect with her. When he did end up talking to her, he was surprised at what words he chose, but they worked all the same. "Are you thinking of lyrics for a corn syrup song?"

"Definitely not!" Yeul giggled. For a moment, she laughed so hard that she had to kick her feet on the ground to regain herself. Noel didn't know if he was more amused by her antics, or that she'd finally made her moccasins make noise. Still, as he looked at her and her bout of emotion, Noel felt his heart swell even more with his love for her. "It's just it was a nice contrast to water, you know?"

Did Noel ever know. When water had first been running scarce for him and his people, the world's citizens had scoured Cocoon and Pulse both for any more water or beverages that people could drink. What they found was corn syrup. It was as old as the hills because it had eventually been banned from people's drinks, as it wasn't natural. Noel had to wonder just what the heck people had been thinking in letting any drinkable liquid sit for decades like that, but perhaps it was for the best. It had saved many of the people of his time from dehydration. Even if it wasn't the best thing he'd ever tasted (if it was due to how long it had sat, or if it originally had questionable taste, Noel wasn't sure). Even so, Yeul was right. It was often a nice alternative to water when one was getting sick of it. Now, though, it seemed to be completely gone. It had dwindled and dwindled, even when the civilians had opted to drink it only when they had to or for special occasions.

Special occasions… "Yeul, we both used to drink that at your birthday parties. Caius hated that, though. He said he didn't even want you to have birthdays if you were going to do that. Because..."

"Because there were cases where the red drink had gone so bad after all this time, that it killed people or made them sick. I know. Noel... I do miss that stuff. I miss Caius. But at the same time, I'm okay with him being gone. Caius... he wants to burn the world down, and I'm glad I'm not there to watch his destructiveness prove to destroy himself."

They were in dangerous territory now. Even though Noel had told Yeul all of this while she was asleep (and she'd clearly retained it all), he hadn't really wanted to acknowledge it. It hurt too much. Noel almost felt as though if he ignored all Caius had said, it would just disappear and things would go back to normal. That didn't seem to be the case, though. And Yeul... Noel was getting the distinct impression she knew more than he did; after all, she had been with Caius long before Noel had met either of them.

Noel's lips burned with questions he wanted to ask her, but he held his tongue and found himself asking something else. Something far more relaxing. "I interrupted you last night, Yeul. You seemed to want to tell me about one of your visions. Would you like to continue to do so now?"

Noel gestured with his hand that Yeul should say what was on her mind. She smiled at him a bit suspiciously, but quickly pulled her stick out of the fire and doused the flame on it with her foot. All so she could talk to Noel better, it seemed. Or tease him. She ruffled his hair somewhat, and Noel had the urge to push her hand away, but he didn't. He couldn't. Her touch was too heavenly.

When Yeul did begin speaking, she seemed a bit reluctant. Maybe because Noel had changed the mood by not playing along with her and pushing her away? He knew he'd been silly and made it seem a loving gesture from her (he would take what he could get)… Would it be far fetched to think she might have been realizing it could be taken that way, too? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't at all. Maybe he and Yeul had been fools all this time, or maybe Caius had stopped them from acting on their feelings for each other.

"Noel, I..." Yeul trailed off, and ran a hand through Noel's hair. This time, it actually was in a loving manner. Noel closed his eyes, and let the sensation, his love for Yeul, wash over him. Suddenly, he felt a lot more confident about everything. Maybe Yeul had done something similar because after a quick breath, she seemed to find some inner strength. She found the courage to say something that had always been on her mind. "I think we should be together."

Noel's eyes snapped open at that. As Yeul's eyes seemed to narrow, as she seemed afraid of rejection, Noel thought it best to soften his gaze and smile softly at the girl he was meant to protect. Though Caius had never said so out loud, Noel knew part of their duty was to protect Yeul's heart. No matter what, Noel had to make sure Yeul was happy. Even if he had to shatter his own heart in the process, because from the ways he'd sometimes seen Caius and Yeul exchange glances... He found it hard to believe Yeul could love him as much as he did her.

But then there were times when her eyes seemed to belong to someone else, as if there was a new life peering out from amongst all of Yeul's past. Yeul would transform her face into the sweetest expression Noel had ever come across and nod at him sweetly. It was those moments (and he was seeing them more and more) that he felt like he was meeting the real Yeul. The Yeul that was freer and not flattened by Caius' over protectiveness or her duty to put the world first.

Noel could remember on one of the rare days when the sun had been shining brighter than he'd ever seen it, and he'd been filled with a peace he'd never known before. Yeul had seemed to feel the exact same way because she'd ran to him in the tall, tall grass... and... Was it possible that was the true Yeul? The person she really wanted to be, and the person he wanted to know above anything else? He'd like to believe it was; Noel had loved Yeul ever since he'd met her with Caius. She'd been trying to whistle with flower stems the way one would a blade of grass when he stumbled upon her, and everything changed for him.

"Yeul, I love you, but I feel like there's such sorrow behind everything you do, and I couldn't bare it if that same thing could be said with you and me."

As his words hit home, Noel almost felt as though he'd be sick to his stomach. He hadn't meant to spill his feelings for Yeul like that. He hadn't meant to tell her of his feelings at all. The words had just spilled out when he reflected on all of his memories of the fetching girl. He felt as though something was being kept from him. Because even at her happiest, there was always a sad air around Yeul. Noel would be lying if he didn't say he was even more worried for the girl as fragile as a flower, with how she'd been reacting to the Oracle Drive lately. With how tired she'd been. Even when they were the last people in the world, even when things simply couldn't get any worse for them or the world, Noel couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen. And something bad happening to Yeul would cut him even more deeply than the loss of everyone and everything else. Yeul was meant to live. She was so sharp, so eager to learn; she brought light to everyone around her. If she died, even if Pulse fell as effectively as Cocoon had, Noel wouldn't even notice. The world would have already ended for him with the loss of Yeul.

Noel was pulled from his melancholy thoughts as Yeul grabbed onto his wrist somewhat roughly, but Noel couldn't feel odd with the gesture from the usually timid Yeul. Instead, he could only smile slightly and have his eyes become more alive in realizing her strength. Maybe he underestimated her as much as Caius did; when Yeul was determined about something, she had a strength Noel had never seen before. In fact, he even sometimes wondered if her inner strength could have rivaled that of the Goddesses Vanille and Fang who's cleverness and brave hearts had saved Cocoon and Pulse from the Fal'Cies' desire to destroy it.

Noel noted that Yeul's headgear glinted in the slight sunlight shining down on her. For a moment, her head garment appeared as red as her lips. "Noel, we're the last people left alive. Don't you think that means we should live to the fullest? For so long, I've lived life in a daze. I think it was the only way I could live my life. The only way I could show the hope you've spoken of so much in regards to me, but Noel... I don't want to feel that numbness anymore. I want the new. I want to really feel warmth, feel your heart beat as you stand in front of me to protect me; I want to love without restraint, Noel. I trust you. I believe in you. I want to understand the true meaning of life."

The mentioned young man shuttered somewhat when he felt Yeul's lips brush against his cheek as light as a feather. At last, she pulled her eyes away from their intertwined hands and the look in Yeul's eyes spoke of something. Noel remembered how Caius had once told him he understood the true meaning of life. He hadn't known what his teacher had meant then, but he was starting to think that he might have helped Yeul as much as she had him. Had his chipper personality, his belief that solutions could always be found, and his desire to see more of the world... Had that all helped Yeul? Despite his predetermined ideas about Caius and Yeul, Noel was starting to feel that her words and his own ideas were correct. A Guardian was meant to protect the Seeress. Was he the Guardian that had been meant to be with this eager girl all along? This girl that seemed to have it all together on the outside, but was falling apart on the inside.

"I love you, Noel." For a beat, Yeul looked into Noel's eyes with nothing but sincerity and emotion. As quick as a blink of an eye, though, her eyes became unfocused and the "Eyes of Etro" insignia appeared in her eyes. In that moment, Noel had the strangest feeling that he was losing her completely so he hugged her to him tightly, and seemed to pull her from the future she was seeing. Yeul smiled in amusement as Noel's motion sent them falling backwards off their perch and onto the ground below them. Yeul was lying atop Noel's chest, and though Noel thought he was too close to the basin of water for his tastes, couldn't focus on anything else, but the only girl in the world for him. Brushing his hand over Yeul's cheek as lightly as she had kissed his, Noel leaned in and pressed his lips to Yeul's. Then there was no going back, but Noel wouldn't have dreamt of it.

He imagined he'd never felt such bliss as he did with Yeul's lips parting to return his kiss perhaps even more eagerly than he was kissing her. She smelled of a the most intoxicating perfume, but there was a coolness and bite to it that hinted at tragedy. Noel ignored the fears that seemed to claw at his heart, as Yeul smiled against his lips and he mentally added it to his mental tab of all the times he'd made her happy.

Neither of them really knew what they were doing, but that made it all even better. It was the adventure they so wanted, but it was an adventure that didn't hold any danger. Just love. Eventually Noel pulled away from Yeul and smiled at her goofily, but it was her that was at a loss for breath. He was about to say something cheeky about Yeul's breathlessness and flushed face, but the idea faded away when he noted the sign in her eyes again.

Falling back onto his elbows, Noel looked at Yeul with a bit of apprehension due to the things he was beginning to realize about her, but also amusement. "You just saw our kiss, didn't you?"

Something flashed in Yeul's eyes. Noel thought he saw sadness, and bit his cheek to keep from saying something from ruining the moment. Then, as quick as it had come, the expression was gone. Instead, Yeul giggled slightly and ran a hand through Noel's hair the way he had been hers while they kissed. "I'd always seen that kiss happening after Caius inevitably left us. It wasn't this kiss, I just saw, though. You promised to protect me, but I fear you may need protecting from my love."

And though Yeul leaned towards Noel to initiate the kiss this time (the kiss from the vision she'd just had), he still had time to place a hand on both of her cheeks and look into her eyes lovingly before they closed. They kissed, loved, and made the most of their night together. They had a lot they wanted to do, and a lot of time to make up for. In the end, it was good that they stayed in each other's arms as long as they could. The next day, Yeul closed her eyes for a different reason. Much like Sleeping Beauty had pricked her finger on the spinning wheel, Yeul had touched the Oracle Drive. This time Noel learned everything he'd ever questioned about the Farseers and their Seeress. Because when Yeul saw her next vision, it killed her. But in the end, she was smiling.

_"You don't have to cry. We will meet again."_

Meet again, the lovers would. It would be through the reincarnation Yeul always went through, but mostly it would be due to a girl sneaking into a boy's mansion.

Noel had regretted he didn't know the truth of Yeul's fate sooner, but when he found her again, it would no longer matter. They'd finally be free of time's chains.

**...**

Raven Madison laid with her vampire boyfriend, Alexander Sterling, inside his coffin. Though she was thinking over significant matters, all unpleasant thoughts disappeared when Alexander awoke and she couldn't resist leaning into kiss his face. Except… the darkness didn't exactly aid her eyes, and she brushed her lips against his nose instead of his lips. "I'm sorry," the girl hastily apologized. Though she'd never admit it, she felt self-conscious. She felt like she'd just shown even more that she wasn't anywhere near the perfect vampiress for Alexander.

Alexander took her "slipup" in stride; he simply teased his love with a smile on his face. He said, "One of the drawbacks of dating a mortal, but it's worth it."

After that, for the remainder of Raven's stay with Alexander, she tried to focus on enjoying her time with him as much as she could, but something was bothering her. When she'd thought of the word "vampiress", she felt as though she'd once been called something else that ended in "ess". She felt as though it was important.

Not that she'd thought much about it after she'd had the odd thought, though. No. At the time the thought occurred to her, Raven had opted to not think of much anything except how honored she was that Alexander didn't regret being with someone like her. She'd felt more loved by him then than she ever had before, when he'd said being with her was worth anything.

But those words also put her ill at ease. Why was she remembering kissing someone much like Alexander? Someone she knew would also have done anything to be with and protect her. Raven felt even more nostalgic when she eyed the spider ring she'd given Alexander at the beginning of their relationship. She pushed all of these thoughts to the back of her mind, though, when her boring, boring parents called her and told her she needed to come home and baby-sit Nerd Bo- Billy Boy.

As a real spider crawled across the floor and onto Raven's foot, she plucked it off of her gleefully and deposited back onto the floor. Alexander said something about how his ring looked even better than that, and Raven rewarded Alexander with a kiss on his lips this time. But after that, as she had no more reason to stall, Raven was forced to return home. She passed creepy old Mr. Jameson on the way out, but even though she waved him goodbye, her thoughts were elsewhere. And this time it wasn't about becoming a vampire, Jagger, Luna, or anything like that.

No. She had the oddest feeling that she'd helped a spider the same way once before. And then, she felt as though she had helped others before, too. Even at her own expense. But how could that be right? She remembered all the pranks she'd played on people like Trevor, and she remembered just how annoying she found the people at her school. Why on Earth would she help them? Besides Alexander and Becky, Raven didn't exactly get along with most people.

But then again, the idea that was plaguing her seemed to be one of life and death. And even though she didn't always see eye to eye with the people of Dullsville (lost in her own word as others had put it), Raven knew if she had the ability to save someone's life, she would, but even at the price of her own? She couldn't say for sure. After working at the travel agency, Raven thought she'd helped unappreciative people much more than enough. But was she thinking realistically enough? She'd helped her enemy, Trevor, when she thought Luna had been trying to change him. That had been dangerous with Jagger around, but she'd done it anyway. Maybe she was more of a martyr than she thought; she was dating a vampire...

Stomping in her boots to get rid of the thought, Raven prepared for a boring night of babysitting, but at least she'd get to torment her little brother and his friend, Henry.

...

As she slept that night, Raven dreamed of wanting to travel. It seemed odd to the Goth girl. She was watching herself in her dream, but she looked somewhat different in the dreamscape. Some of her features were similar-ish, but there was no doubt she couldn't be dreaming about herself at all. Right?

No, she couldn't be. She didn't want to travel really, anyway. Just on special occasions to meet Anne Rice and the like, but that was it. What was with her in thinking about traveling lately? Why, just earlier she'd been trying to compare that with things and see if she'd die through visions to...

Groaning, Raven threw her covers off of her. As she got out of bed, she found herself glancing at her window. She remembered the time after the town had thrown that welcome party for Alexander…

She'd just come to terms with Alexander not being a vampire (and how stupid she'd been to think that, and want him only for that), only to see a bat lying on her window; a bat that seemed to mock her by its presence. She'd learned right then and there that despite everything, despite what Alexander had said, he really was a vampire. He was showing her and telling her, because she'd proven herself trustworthy. She wasn't judging him, and she was the only one in the world that could fit into his world. It was like how he was the only one who could fit into her own. Still, half theorizing something ridiculous, and being met with the truth of it all had been enough to throw Raven into a tailspin. She'd tried to sort out just what it meant that Alexander was a vampire, and what that would mean for them.

Maybe... Maybe looking in that general direction wasn't the best place to sort out her warring feelings now.

Except that faster than Raven could even move back towards her bed, Alexander was at her window. He knocked on it, and Raven threw herself at it as fast as she could. Her face filled with color as she ushered her vampire in, and hoped he hadn't awakened her family. Once he was safely in her room, Alexander didn't reach out and embrace her the way Raven had thought he would. Instead, he stayed far away from her, but seemed to be taking her in. There was something there in Alexander's eyes. Something she'd been seeing more and more of lately. The face he was making was more than a little similar to a certain Noel Kreiss from her dreams, but just what did it all mean?

Eying her _Emily the Strange_ alarm clock's blinking red letters, Raven allowed her eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of light. Then, when she could see Alexander better, she walked over to him herself. In the back of her head, she noted the darkness and red letters were reminiscent of a dark world with only a bit of red sun to lighten anything.

"Alexander?" Rather groggily, Raven rubbed a hand over her eyes as she realized she must have been more tired than she'd initially realized. The only down side to her more alert senses was that she'd more than likely just smeared her heavy eye makeup. If Alexander didn't remark she looked like a cocoon, though, Raven supposed it couldn't be too bad. She did have an excuse, being a human. But dang! She really needed to take her eye makeup off earlier in the...

"Yeul."

Raven felt as though a bucket of ice water had just been thrown on her. How did he- grinding her teeth, Raven's tiredness made her suspicious and angry. She tried to hide it. Instead asking, "What's that, Alexander?"

Alexander shook his head in a short motion. So quick, in fact, Raven wondered if he'd moved at all. Though it was probably a vampire thing, Raven had to wonder if he'd gotten it from her. With Alexander being born much earlier than she had been, he usually gave more proper and complete answers. It was cute to think she might have been affecting him like he did her, but at the same time, Raven couldn't feel as happy for it as she usually might have. She felt very nervous and scared, and found she almost wished Alexander would just go away. Even though she was trying to hide it from herself, she thought she knew what was coming, and was trying very hard to avoid it. Her life was weird enough as it was.

Continuing his thought, as he undoubtedly noticed Raven was focusing on him again, Alexander moved even closer to Raven and gently took her into his arms for what felt like comfort and something else. Then he said, "I want you to be a vampire, Raven. It might be the only solution. We were somehow reincarnated in a different time and place, but if you start having visions again, you could die. I mean, you were reincarnated as a Gothic this time. Which I love about you, of course, but… what if the dark things you love is a sign of dark things to co- "

Groaning, Raven found herself falling onto her bed and fighting to not faint on the spot. She might have tried to fight Alexander's words, but she found she couldn't. Not just because of the dreams or "visions" she'd been having lately, but because she had an obligation to believe in Alexander no matter what. He had the same responsibility to her, and if he was saying this... If he was even wanting her to be a vampire now... Then what they were starting to realize had to be true, didn't it? Raven felt she could accept this, but she didn't want to face it yet. But with Alexander, or Noel, holding onto her arms desperately, Raven felt she had to try. Especially when she was reminded of another time. A time when she'd grabbed onto Alexander's writs just as roughly and assured him they should be together. Had Alexander remembered that before he'd held onto her wrists? Raven assumed he must have. He was a vampire. His extra long life had undoubtedly given him more of a chance to remember their shared past life. Raven's shorter life, however, hadn't been nearly as kind in telling her such important facts.

"It'll be okay, Noel. I... I said we'd meet again. And here we are. Maybe I always knew this would happen. Or maybe I willed it to. I don't know. But I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're here." When Raven put a hand over her mouth after the words spilled out of her, she felt as though she might have been misleading Alexander more than she meant to. Because even though what she'd just said had shocked her (she didn't know where it had come from; it was almost like she was channeling someone else even though it was her past life), the sentence had seemed more right and more her the more she let her emotions out. Perhaps it was a sign. A sign to fully deal with all of this by Alexander's side. Nodding her head to herself, Raven decided to let the chips fall how they may.

She really was the reincarnation of the girl Yeul, wasn't she? Raven felt a headache coming on as she remembered Yeul had lived more than one life. Would she remember each of them eventually? Or would she have to be a vampire to do so? Or could it be that she was only the reincarnation of Noel's Yeul? She knew for a fact that she had no interest in anything over flower-y like one Yeul had. But since each Yeul had different interests and hobbies…

Raven's panicked thoughts trailed off when Alexander brushed a hand over her ebony hair. At once, she was assaulted of the memory of her first kiss with Noel. With Alexander. Alexander was Yeul's Noel. Her Noel. They really were meant to be together. Why on Earth was she focusing on the bad when she should have been focusing on this perfection? She finally had tangible proof that she was meant for Alexander and vice versa. And even though Raven still felt nervous about being a vampire, she must have been meant for that, too. Each time she'd had a vision in that past life, she'd lost a piece of that life. Eventually it had killed her over and over and over again. Now she was in a world with vampires. She had her Alexander and he could turn her and save her from her fate this time. It seemed foolish to go against such a miracle. Raven didn't know if she'd get another chance. Especially since Jagger... probably that Caius guy, seemed hell-bent on burning this world down, too.

"Raven." Alexander reached out for Raven again. And at the love, desperation, and relief on his face, Raven felt a smile lift the corner of her own lips. But when she remembered how she'd never been able to truly smile at him in their past (as her fate had always been hanging over her head), Raven felt it was completely ridiculous to not show all the love she had for him now. And just like that, it all really hit her. Both girls in her seemed to assimilate into one; it was much the way they had for Alexander and Noel.

Getting off her bed, Raven felt tears streaming down her face, as she dove into Alexander's arms, and forced him to hold her as tightly as he could. As memories of her own death, and how she'd faded out of Noel's arms so easily, played in her head, Raven held onto Alexander even more. She would not lose him again. Not now. Not ever. Raven sobbed (not even caring that she felt somewhat embarrassed for it), and as Alexander drew comforting patterns on her back, Raven found she was so, so glad that she was quite a bit shorter than her love in this life, too. Everything felt as though it was falling into place. It was the future she'd been so sure of when she'd last spoken to Noel. It was why she had embraced death with open arms, and had died with this dream, this moment, in her heart. She could have been in Pulse with Noel, or she could have been in Dullsville with Alexander. At the moment, she didn't care or know where she was in time and space. She just knew she was with him.

"I want to be turned, too. We've been so stupid! Caius always thought I was meant to die, but I was meant to live life to its full potential. I know you viewed turning me as a way of ending my life. But it's our chance to save it. Our chance to save everything. Maybe we can even save our old world! Noe-"

It wasn't lost to Raven that she'd just called Alexander "Noel", but instead of feeling out of sorts with it, she felt more than perfect. She held Alexander's face between her hands, and it was so much like when Noel had held her head that way (right before they'd made love), she couldn't help but feel they'd come full circle. She owed so much to Noel. To Alexander. Both had set her free and brought her to life. More than that, they'd given her a life to live. But they'd also led her to this alternative where she could save others lives, too. And of course she would. She'd been silly to wonder about it before. Just because this world allowed her to tease more, and be more of a trouble maker, she'd always be willing to help anyone in anyway she could. It was just the way she was, because when she thought of Billy dying when her visions could give her information to prevent it...

She would find a way to save Pulse if it still existed. Maybe she'd look at the timeline and utilize Etro's Gates now that she'd be immortal forever. Maybe through that she could save everyone...

All she knew for sure was that she was daydreaming like she once had. It was quite similar to how she'd sometimes find loopholes to do things in her new life and get away with it. But now that Alexander was shaking her shoulders, and regaining her attention, Raven pulled away from her imaginations. She didn't want to be there. She didn't want to be anywhere, but in this moment with her soul mate. He was offering her the sweet smile he had when she'd been self-conscious and relating her feelings to him in their old life.

Reaching forward, she gently cupped Alexander's face, and moved forward and kissed him. It was different from all their others. From anyone ever's. They acted like they didn't know what they were doing again, but they knew. They knew so much and held onto so much. But this time, they didn't feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. They only felt each other's weight.

Raven—Yeul—had found meaning for her life, but she'd brought enlightenment for Alex-Noel, too. She'd found a way to line the pieces up, and when she began singing to herself, Raven wasn't surprised to hear it was what she'd been humming the night Noel found her on her birthday. "I'm gonna see the new world with nothing, but the love you gave me."

Alexander smiled at Raven, and even though there were vampire fangs present, Yeul felt more than besotted to her Noel. No matter what happened, they'd find a way to weather any storm together. Noel must have realized the same thing because he swept her up into his arms, and this time there was no fear of death when he held her. She wouldn't have a vision and die in his arms again. Rather, she'd be given forever. Noel jumped from the window with Yeul to look for sacred ground so he could change her, and they could be together forever. But they always had been and always would be. Sometimes in the past and future could be changed, but their love was something not even a paradox could alter.

"I found you." Noel whispered into the night so Yeul wasn't sure if she' heard him speak or if it was just the wind. Still, she knew he'd actually said it. Having a vision of one of the timelines, Yeul saw where Noel had told Serah his dream of finding her and being with her in the future. He'd done just that, and even though he'd been unsure in the vision that they could be together for long, Yeul knew that Noel had no more reason to fear or cry. From the day he'd come to Dullsville, and before that, met her with Caius, she knew he would be with her. But she knew even more that she'd always be with him.

"I love you," she assured him again in a hoarse voice. Much like Serah had assured Noel that she held gratitude for him. As Yeul's words seemed to test fate, to see if they could keep this happiness, both were pleased to know nothing happened. There was no death, sadness, or pain. All that happened was Yeul held onto Noel tighter and he kissed her head. But later something did happen. Both lived their lives to the fullest and loved together forever. It was the life Yeul and Noel had always been meant to live.

**Author's Note: Sorry if there's a ton of mistakes. I've checked this a lot, but I can't bare to anymore. At least not at the moment.**

**Anyway, this is what happens when you're in a weird mood and are writing in the early morning. This is strange, but I oddly like it. I think. I have mixed feelings about this.**

**This is dedicated to Dani, as always. Mainly because I know you love Noel/Yeul like I do. Though I'm sorry if you don't know VK and are confuzzled. Or if you don't like Vampire Kisses. Actually, I may not should tell you about this until I know your stance on VK.**

**Umm… I was originally going to cross this over with Twilight, but I'm kind of not in the mood to write Twi? But that's okay because I've written a lot for that already. And somehow, I thought VK would work better for this story, anyway. **

**Speaking of which, I'm so glad for this series (even if I am new to writing it, and probably suck at it)! Otherwise, I might would have had to use Vampire Diaries (which I hate now), or True Blood, or Seers of Light (and I don't remember much from them, so it would have been awful). Yeah. Vampire Kisses saved this fic. And gave me the odd/cool-ish idea to make Alexander and Raven Noel and Yeul's reincarnations. I think it worked for the most part. I liked the spin on my original idea. At first, when I was going to make this a Twilight crossover, I was just going to have Carlisle or someone change Yeul to end her curse, but I like the reincarnation thing a lot better. That IS the Yeul story. Noel and her would find their saving grace this way.**

**Sorry if Alexander wasn't Alexander-y in this. But in my defense, he and Noel are kind of alike (at least in my mind), and had pretty much already merged into one mind set for most of this fic, so… **

**Also, even though I like the corn syrup thing in this, I'm not gonna lie.,, I put that in there because they use that concoction for fake blood in most movies. –shot- Yeah, I didn't try and force similarities into these worlds at all (insert sarcasm here)!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed? And that I didn't butcher Vampire Kisses too much. I think I did okay with XIII-2, but I've written for that twice before so it makes sense. But if you thought this sucked, please don't flame. I'm new to VK. And this was a weird idea. Believe me if I could control my muse better, I would.**

**… I'm really hoping Yeul isn't evil now. In the most recent thing about XIII-2, it seemed that way. I'll be really ticked if Square mind effed us like that. I liked the sweet, selfless, tragic Yeul! And I love Noel/Yeul! Don't ruin that, Square-Enix! Even with what some Noel/Serah fans might want, don't change what you've done so far to please them! You're going to, aren't you? Well, I guess it's good I wrote this, then, before all my thoughts, hopes, and dreams are shattered. But you know what? Even then I'll love this pairing!**

**Wow. I never thought I'd see the day I'd like someone like Naminé this much. I can't believe I'm shipping Noel with her when, if she is evil, he's better off with Serah. I mean, I don't like RokuNami because Naminé's evil-ish and Roxas is better off with Xion. Oh the irony. Most people love Roxas/Nami and don't like Roxas/Xion. Likewise, people love Noel/Serah, but don't like Noel/Yeul. Why can't more people like RokuShi if they like Noel/Serah? And why don't people like Noel/Yeul if they like Roxas/Naminé? Man, I'm definitely the odd one out when it comes to pairings lately.**

**I've ranted enough. Shutting up now.**

**-Shanna**

**P.S. Dani, if you're reading this, is it me… or have my author's notes become similar to yours? 0-0**


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